Thursday, September 18, 2014

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded over $8 million in funding for 7 microgrid projects. Will microgrids play an increasing role in the U.S. electricity industry?

Solar photovoltaic panels can serve as distributed generation for microgrids.

Microgrids -- localized grids capable of operating as energy islands using distributed generation, energy storage, and distribution wires, as well as able to connect to the broader utility grid -- can offer participants and society at large significant value. These benefits can include increased reliability against storm damage and infrastructure damage, reduced emissions of carbon and other pollutants, and reduced costs.

ALSTOM Grid, Inc.: about $1.2 million to research and design community
microgrid systems for the Philadelphia Industrial Development
Corporation and the Philadelphia Water Department, using portions of the
former Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Burr Energy, LLC: about $1.2 million to design and build a
resilient microgrid to allow the Olney, Maryland Town Center to operate for weeks in the event of a regional
outage, and a second microgrid for multi-use commercial
development in Maryland.

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd): about $1.2 million to develop and test a commercial-grade microgrid
controller capable of controlling a system of two or more interconnected
microgrids, serving civic infrastructure including police and fire department headquarters, transportation and healthcare facilities, and
private residences.

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI): about $1.2 million to develop a commercially-viable
standardized microgrid controller that can allow a community to provide
continuous power for critical loads.

TDX Power, Inc.: about $1.2 million to engineer, design, simulate, and build a
microgrid control system on remote Saint Paul Island, an island located in the
Bering Sea off mainland Alaska.

The University of California, Irvine (UCI): about $1.2 million for the Advanced Power and Energy Program at UCI to develop and test a
generic microgrid controller intended to be readily adapted to manage a
range of microgrid systems, and supporting the development of open source industry
standards.

Each project also includes an awardee cost share ranging from 20 percent
to about 50 percent. Will the DOE funds lead to better and more widely adopted microgrids?

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